Broward sheriff's deputy accused of severely beating Hollywood man

A Broward sheriff's deputy featured on the now-defunct "Unleashed: K-9 Broward County" series is being sued for allegedly unleashing his fists on a Hollywood man and cooking up an arrest to justify it.

Deputy Gerald Wengert's new excessive-use-of-force lawsuit mirrors the allegations in an unrelated criminal case he was acquitted of last spring.

The lawsuit says the March 26, 2010, incident began when Wengert taunted the 21-year-old at a Cooper City gas station and then pulled him over less than a mile away.

Wengert pulled Kevin Buckler over without cause, yanked him from his vehicle, smashed his face into the car-door frame and fist pummeled his face, according to the lawsuit, filed in federal court last week.

Buckler, his face fractured, eyes swollen shut and bloodied, was taken by ambulance to Hollywood Memorial Hospital, where he spent two days, the civil suit says.

The beating "was excessive, unreasonable and in violation of federal and state law, as well as accepted police practices within the United States," Buckler's attorney, Barbara Heyer, wrote in the suit.

Attempts to reach Wengert by telephone for comment were unsuccessful. But Wengert in his arrest report said that Buckler was the combative one.

In the report, Wengert said that Buckler blew smoke in his face, threw his cigarette at him, failed to comply with lawful orders and fought Wengert when he tried to pull Buckler from the car.

A spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office declined to comment about the pending litigation.

Wengert, 35, was featured in The Learning Channel's six-part series "Unleashed: K-9 Broward County," which debuted in April 2011. His annual salary is $69,910. He has been with the Sheriff's Office since February 2004.

It was July 2012 when he was criminally charged for a clash with a 17-year-old boy. A Broward County jury in April acquitted Wengert of speeding to a scene at the behest of his live-in girlfriend and arresting, punching and siccing his police dog on the boy and writing a false police report to substantiate it.

The boy's father, Mark Visconti, who shares the same name as his son, on Monday said he has accepted the jury's decision.

"I don't think our court case went well, because it was a bunch of teenagers against a glorified cop," Visconti said. "All I was looking for was justice, but the jury said he was not guilty, so hey, I go with what my system tells me."

It took a Broward County jury less than an hour to find Wengert not guilty of falsifying records, official misconduct and battery.

"I feel vindicated," Wengert said after his acquittal. "I feel like I finally got to tell my story to people who wanted to hear it. The State Attorney's Office didn't want to hear it. Internal Affairs didn't want to hear it. But this jury did."

Because of the criminal allegations, Wengert was suspended without pay from July 14, 2012, to Aug. 16 this year. When the suspension ended, he received $63,661 in back pay.

Heyer, the lawyer representing Buckler, declined to discuss the new lawsuit.

"I think the allegations speak for themselves," she said.

As a result of Buckler's run-in with Wengert, Buckler was charged with two felonies — battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence — as well as a misdemeanor count of disobeying an officer. He also was cited for playing music too loud from a vehicle.

State prosecutors declined to file the lesser charges, and a Broward County jury in August 2011 found Buckler not guilty of the felonies.

"My impression was that Wengert bullied my client and beat the crap out of him," Buckler's criminal defense attorney, Sam Fields, said Monday.

Also named in the new lawsuit are deputies Curtis Roberts, 27, and Geoff Brown, 45. Brown also was regularly featured with Wengert on the Learning Channel series.

Although the events occurred during former Sheriff Al Lamberti's tenure, current Sheriff Scott Israel also is formally named in the suit as current head of the agency.

Buckler's severe beating and false arrest were preceded by his midnight stop to buy a pack of cigarettes at a BP gas station at 10295 Stirling Road, the lawsuit says.

Also at the station were Wengert and Brown, it said. Brown was off duty, but Wengert was on, it said.

Wengert allegedly followed Buckler into the store, repeatedly asked a profane question, followed by, "Do you know me? Do you want to hurt me?"

The lawsuit said Buckler shook his head and left but promptly was pulled over on the false pretense that he was blaring "excessively loud music" from his car.

Wengert ordered Buckler out of his car, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and smashed his face into the door frame, it said.

When Buckler fell on his back, Wengert jumped on top of him and pummeled him in the face with his fists, it said.